In sentence completion questions, such as for use in tutoring or testing students, a student is given a sentence that is missing a word, and the student attempts to choose the best option for filling in the blank from among several options. An example of a sentence completion question is, “John's car broke down, so he called to say that he would be [a) early b) late c) perplexed d) gangrenous e) positive].”
Currently, creating such questions is a very time-consuming process, because the creator first needs to “think up” a good sentence that uses a specific word, (e.g., on a college level exam, the sentences often may be twenty or more words long, and involve unusual words), and then formulate reasonable alternates to list among the options. Alternates generally need to be words that fit grammatically and read smoothly, but make no sense.